Condenser



1,559,998 T. SHIPLEY CONDENSER Filed May 2O 192e 2 Sheets-Sheet l Nov.3l 1925..

Nov. 3l 1925. l T. SHIPLEY cQNDnNsn Filed nay 2o, 1924 2 sheets-sheer 2gwuwntoz I mmap l latlented lNov.` 3,

'moins snu'Lmr, or'yozax, rENNsYLvANIA.

CONDENSEB.

Appunti mea lay so, m4. serial' m, 114,709.

To all whom z'tmay concern.'

Be it` known that I, THOMAS SIIIPLEY, a citizen of the United States,reslding at f York, in the county of York and State of have inventedcertain new Pennsylvania,u f

and useful Improvements in Condensers, which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to condensers of the shell and tube type, andparticularly to condensers for use in ammonia and other rerigeratingsystems. v

In small refrigerating units there `1s a demand for a compact surfacecondenser that can be inexpensively constructed, and that will meet thesevere requirements of unattended service. The condenser must beabsolutely tight against leakage and must remain so. It must beefficient, since these condensers are commonly cooled by city serviceWater and hence should operate with lthe minimum practicable water How.It isl important that the rate of water flow through the condenser unitshall be Sulliciently rapid to prevent the deposit of scale or sedimentin rthe condenser.

From the standpoint of ease of construction and maintenance, thewell-known water tube surface condenser is highly desirable. In thistype of condenser the s ell is provided with tube sheets, near its ends,into which the ends of the tubes are expanded. The shell is providedwith heads, beyond the tube sheets, forming water boxes.

. In the simplest form of water tube con,- denser, the so-called singlepass type, the water enters at one water box and discharges at theother, flowing through'all the tubes in" parallel. There are alsomultiple pass types, in. which baffles are placed ,in the differentwater boxes so that the water flows back and forth throu h variousgroups of tubes in parallel. This last construction is practicable insmall condensers to produce only a small number of passes.

A maximum water flow rate, and hence a large number of passes, is highlydesirable in the case of small ammonia condensers, and .the constructionforming the subject of the present application secures such vflow byconnectin all the tubes in series with each other without requiring anunduly expensive or complicated construction. It can readily bemodified, however, to produce the flow through two or more sets of tubesin parallel, in the event that such an arrangement is desired.

v Briefly stated, I make use of a shell and tube .condenser'having ltubesheets and water boxes, preferably specially arranged to suit therequlrements of the design. Within the-water; boxes the'end' of Vonetube is con- -nected with the open end of anadjacent tube. by means ofreturn bends having tapered ends or nipples. which'fit into the openends of the tubes.

The joints between these return bends and the ends of the tubes can bemade watertight, but when closed water boxes are used they need not beabsolutely water-tight lfor the reason'that when the water boxesareflooded the Ipressures within and without the return bends areractically equalized. The leakage, if any, 1s consequently miniinlzed,and whatever occurs has no harmful ei'ect as it merely short-circuits ina ver small degree the tube affected by the leakage. v Y

Where it is practicable to place the water 1nlet and outlet at oppositeends of the condenser, i. e..in diii'erent water boxes, it is possibleto Hood the water boxes, for the purpose described, by connecting suchinlet and outlet directly to respective waterboxes and causin; the waterto iiow Pfrom the inlet water box irectly to the first tube and from thelast tube directly to the other water box, all other tube ends beingconnected toether by return bends. It isconvenient,

owever, to have the water inlet -and outlet connections both at the sameend of the shell, and hence I prefer to use, and shall describe, anadditional feature by which the water is led directly to the rst tubeand directly from the last tube.

such case one return bend fitting is omitted from each water box, sothat the water boxes are flooded and serve each to connect two watertubes with each other.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the condenser partlylbroken away to showthe internal construction; v

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of This permits both connections tobe made at one end. In

Fig. 1, looking in the direction of'the arrows; l Fig. 3 is a section onthe line 3-3 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the ar- 'roWs;

Fig. Il is an end elevation of the condenser looking to the leftrelatively to Fig. 1; l

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section through a tube sheet and the ends of apair of tubes showing them connected by a return bend;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary longitudinal section through the shell, head,and tube sheet, showing the means used to connect one vend tube of theseries of tubes directly with a Water connection, in this case theoutlet connection. p

,The shell of the condenser is indicated at 11, and is rovided at itsopposite ends with fianged tube sheets 12. VThe flanges of the 'tube'sheets 12 are welded to the shell 11 producing practically an integralstructure. The tubes 13 extend between the tube sheets 12. Each tube isexpanded into a hole in the tube sheet 12 and this hole is provided witha circumferential groove 14 into which the metal of the tube is pressedby the expanding tool so that a peculiarly tight joint is produced andso that the tubes have a good staying action on the tube sheets.

The flanges of the tube sheets 12 project outward, as shown, and formthe water boxes at the ends of the condenser shell 11.y

These water boxes are closed by heads 15 and 16, each of'which seats-vagainst a corresponding gasket 17.` The gaskets 17 bear partly on theend of the shell 11 and partly on the flange of the corresponding tubesheet '12.r The heads 15 and 16 are h-eld in place by cap nuts 18 whichare threaded on the ends of tie rods 19. The tie rods 19 extend theentire length of the condenser and make tight joints with the tubesheets 12. They serve as stays both for the tube sheets and for theheads.

The refrigerant vaporffor gas to be condensed is introduced through theconnection 20, and the condensed or liquid refrigerant is withdrawnthrough the connection 21 which, as will be observed, is located abovethe bottom of the condenser. The purpose in so locating this outlet isto permit the condenser to serve also as a gravity oil separator. oilconnection 22 at the bottom ofthe shell. The inlet Water connection isshown at 23 and the outlet water connection at 21. These are identicalin construction and can best be described with reference to Fig. 6,which shows the outlet water'y connection. The connector proper is ofordinary flanged form and isA clamped in place by studs and nuts 33." Itis provided' With a threaded opening to receive the Water pipe 25. Thefitting 24 fits in a recess formed in the-head The oil is withdrawnthrough the- Vboxes, and these become functionless.

tween the thimble 27 and the tube 13, but it is a simple matter to makea practically Water-tight joint since the pressures on opposite sides ofthe joint are substantially equal.

The various tubes 13 in the condenser are connected up in series byreturn bend fittings 28 having tapered nipples 29 at their ends, whichfit snugly in the ends of adjacent tubes '13. The joints thus producedneed not be absolutely tight, for the reasony Y stated. Flooding of thewater boxes is con-v veniently secured by omitting one returny bend 28from each )water box, so that the` water box is in direct communicationwith two tubes 13, between which it serves as the connection.

The path of the water through the tubes can be traced on Figs. 2 and 3.The water entering through the nipple 27 at the bottom of Fig. 3 makesthree passes in the sixth orvlowest vtier, and two passes in the fifth.

or next lowest tier, at the end of which it J discharges into theleft-hand water box. From the left-hand water box it Hows via theright-hand tube in the third tier of Fig.' 2. This tube is the left-handtube in the third tier of Fig. 3 and as shown in that ligure dischargesinto the right-hand water box. From this box the Water enters the fourthtier (via the left-hand tube in the fourth tier, Fig. 3), and makes fivepasses in the fourth tier, then fourpasses in the third tier, two passesin the second tier, three Vpasses in the first or top tier and thencedischarges through the top thimble 27 'and outlet connection 24.

Each of the heads 15 and 16 is provided with a corresponding projection30 and 31, so formed and positioned as to clear the return bends 28 onlywhen these are properly placed, and only when the headsare presentedproperly. This precludes improper assembly of the device. Theseprojections serve as a sort of template to assure correct positioning ofthe return bends, and While I prefer to construct these integrally withthel head, it is obvious that this is not essentia If all the tubes inthe series be connected by return bends, and if care to be taken tosecure tight joints with all the tubes, including also the inlet andoutlet connections, then it is unnecessarv to flood the Water In suchcase, the heads 15 and 16 may be omitted. The invention thereforepermits the construction of a simple Water tube condenserdevoid of Waterboxes'and making` use of water tubes expanded into tube sheets.

While I prefer the construction in which iiooded water boxes are used asthe more reliable, I do not limit. my broader claims to this feature,but claimbroadly the use o return bends having plug fits with adjacenttubes of a shell and tube condenser.

Water is the cooling medium usually used and hence it is common in thisart to refer to the cooling l'medium as water, and to water boxes watertubes, etc. In' using such terms in my specification and claims,I-merely adopt the terminology of the art lfor convenience, but imply nonecessary limitation to water, since any suitable fluid medium may beused.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with a vcondenser of the watertube type including apairof spaced tube sheets in which open-ended water tubes are lixed, andwater boxes beyond the tube sheets; of removable tubular connectorsmounted in the water boxes and having their ends friction'ally retainedin the open ends of .he water tubes to connect certain of said tubes inseries.

2. The combination with a. condenser of the water tube type including apair of spaced tube sheets, open-ended water. tubes fixed in said tubesheets, and water boxes beyond said tube sheets; of a plurality ofreturn bend connectors having tapered ends I 'making 'plug fits in theends of said tubes,

said return bends being vwithin said water boxes, and being arranged toconnect various of said water tubes in series.

3. In a condenser, the combination of a shell having tube sheets spacedfrom its ends to form water bxes; a plurality of water tubes extendingbetween and fixed in said tube sheets; and U-shaped connectors havingtaper plug ends'mounted in said water boxes-with said ends rictionallyretained in different tubes to connect the same withl connectors in thewater boxes andinserted into the open ends of the water tubes to connectcertainu of said tubes in series; removable heads for the water boxes;and means removable with said heads and havling portions rojecting intothe spaces between said tu lular connectors when the device isassembled, said projecting portions being so arranged' as to precludeimproper assembly. Y i

5. In a condenser, the combination of a shell, tube sheets mounted inthe ends of said shell and having outward projecting flanges whichdefine water boxes beyond said tube sheets; removable covers closing theends of said water boxes; open ended tubes connected at their endswithsaid tube sheets; and a plurality of U-shaped connectors inserted intoand frictionally retained in the ends of some but not all of said tubes,in such manner that a plurality of tubes is connected with the 'waterboxes and in series with each other.

In testimonv whereof I have signed my name to, this specification.

THOMAS SHIPLEY.

